Plastic Bags

"According to calculations extrapolated from data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 on U.S. plastic bag, sack, and wrap consumption, somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, millions end up in the litter stream outside of landfills—estimates range from less than one to three percent of the bags." Click here to read more.

Plastic bags account for 80% of grocery and convenient store markets since they are cheap to produce, sturdy, plentiful, and easy to carry and store. However, once in the landfill, it takes plastic bags hundreds of years to break down, and as as they decompose, they leak toxins into lakes, soil, and the ocean. Plastic bags also account for large amounts of litter. "In San Francisco, City officials estimate that they spend $8.5 million annually to deal will plastic bag litter- that equates to roughly 17 cents for every bag distributed in the city." To read more from Californians Against Waste, click here.

However, there is one extremely successful story about reducing plastic bag use. A simple tax of 15 cents per bag was enacted in hopes of reducing Ireland's litter. This "tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of eurs in revenue, the government says." The 3.5 million in extra revenues from the tax is to be used for environmental projects. To read this article, click here.